2011 MLB Season

[Meacon Keaton]

Before I even clicked I was like "I hope they went back to the older style uni's they had when they won their Championships". Good call, Toronto.

[Guest mr. potato head]

When I was a kid I had bedsheets with that logo. Didn't realize it was a blue jay at the time though, thought it was some sort of weird concoction incorporating a checkmark.

[Meacon Keaton]

You were a weird ass kid.

[gunnar hendershow]

My friend grew up in the South Side and he thought, until he was a late teen, that the White Sox logo was actually a man wearing an oversized ballcap.

[naiwf]

My friend grew up in the South Side and he thought, until he was a late teen, that the White Sox logo was actually a man wearing an oversized ballcap.

Was your friend hit in the head by a baseball as an infant?

[sahyder1]

I haven't been following too closely. Was there any reason given as to why they didn't just move the Brewers back to the AL?

I figure it is because they have a natural rivalry built in with the Rangers.

[gunnar hendershow]

Yeah because Dallas and Houston are so fucking close. A natural rivalry would have seen the Nats moving to the AL.

[sahyder1]

Yeah because Dallas and Houston are so fucking close. A natural rivalry would have seen the Nats moving to the AL.

So who from the AL East were you moving to the AL West? Toronto? Houston makes complete sense. Four hours drive is the distance between New York and Boston. St. Louis/Chicago are probably the same (I haven't double checked). All they needed to do was move one team and they did that.

Edited November 19, 2011 by sahyder1

[Ananas]

According to Ken Rosenthal, the new CBA is expected to eliminate forfeited draft picks for type-A free agent relievers. This will apply to the current crop as well, although the Phillies will still have to forfeit their first round pick for signing Papelbon. If the Red Sox sign Madson the Phillies end up looking like the schmucks of the year.

[The Buscher]

Horrible news out of the Netherlands as Mariners outfielder Greg Halman has been stabbed to death. What a tragedy. RIP

[Lowerdeck]

Verlander takes down the MVP award too.

So much for that informal rule about only batters being able to win it. Ellsbury was second.

[naiwf]

He's now just the 2nd guy ever to win the ROY, CY and MVP awards. Don Newcombe was the first (ROY in '49 and the other two in '56).

[gunnar hendershow]

The voters did the right thing. Nobody was more valuable to their team than Verlander this year. The debate now is where this ranks on the list of all-time great seasons.

[Ananas]

Verlander, Bautista and Ellsbury would have been 3 equally valid choices from 3 different perspectives. Verlander's result stats were dominant, although if you looked more at peripheral numbers you could argue that he got kind of lucky on balls put in play and that outside of that he was pretty even with CC. Ellsbury was legitimately a 5 tool player in the purest sense of the term, although you could argue just how much value difference there is from an elite defender to an average one from a pure wins standpoint. Bautista was head and shoulders the best offensive performer in the American League, although again his OBP numbers are bumped up somewhat because of his league leading 24 IBBs and obviously he was a fairly mediocre defender. What is really just embarrassing is how exactly it was that Michael Young was one of the 6 players who received a first place vote?

[The Buscher]

Michael Young's first place vote came from Evan Grant, a Dallas sports writer. What a joke.

They really should just have the players vote for these things with a rule being that they can't vote for people on their own team. Writers are often homers.

-edit-

Evan Grant's twitter is getting blown the fuck up...and rightly so. Some have even accused him of voting for Young 1st as a publicity stunt because he knows full well that the ballots are public domain and will eventually get out.

Edited November 22, 2011 by kbusch22

[gunnar hendershow]

I assure you he's not losing any readers over this controversy.

[sahyder1]

Well deserved MVP award for Verlander. I've always hated the "pitchers shouldn't win MVP" argument.

[The Buscher]

Ryan Braun wins NL MVP. He had a fantastic season by any measure, but Kemp clearly put up the better numbers. I'll never understand why so many writers think you have to be in the playoffs to be MVP. Kemp got 6 3rd place votes for fuck's sake.

[Meacon Keaton]

I remember some writer (can't remember who and too lazy to see if I can find it) saying that "You obviously weren't valuable enough" if your team didn't make the playoffs. I understand what he's trying to say (numbers aren't everything), but to expect one guy to carry a team through a 162-game season is ridiculous.

[Ananas]

The new CBA is probably great news for you if you're a fan if the Phillies, Yankees or Red Sox. Apparently in order to restore that good old competitive balance, the league pushed for in talks and got harder slotting in the draft with luxury taxes for anyone who exceeds the slot and potential penalties of lost picks for anyone who exceeds it by too much. They've also done the same with international free agency with a soft cap with 75-100% luxury tax for anything spent beyond that, with international spending allocation based on winning percentages. Basically the only area of spending which didn't get further restrictions placed on it was free agency, where the Elias rankings have been eliminated, as has most draft pick compensation for lost free agents. And the luxury tax in that area remains between 22.5%-40%. So pretty much if you're a small to mid-market team, your only hope for contention is to get lucky. It is so completely laughable that the league was worried about the contracts given out to amateur free agents. When you look at their bonuses, then compare that to the potential value they put up in their first 3 cost controlled seasons then 3 arbitration controlled seasons at a fraction of their market value, draft picks and international signings are a bargain. But here is an example where the free spending teams that like their little free agent fiefdom can align with the piss poor run franchises like Oakland, the White Sox, Florida, both Los Angeles teams and others of their ilk who would rather spend their money on declining veterans then put it where it could acually produce value. And together they take away the incentive of those middle market teams actually doing things the right way. And hey, if you're not in either of the Eastern divisions it's fine too because it's not like you have to play the Sox, Yankees or Phillies 20 times a season. What a fucking embarrassment. It's like cutting back on seeds so you can spend more on soon-to-rot vegetables.